1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pattern reading apparatus for optically reading pattern information such as characters, symbols, figures, or the like and for displaying it by a tactile display and, more particularly, to a pattern information reading apparatus comprising: means for optically reading concentration pattern information; and means for displaying and outputting the read pattern information as tactile information which is tactile by a finger tip or the like.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, there has been put into practical use a reading device for the blind in which pattern information which was optically read is converted into an electric signal, the electric signal is output to a tactile information display to vibrate a bimorph tactile array arranged like a matrix, and the read pattern is displayed. According to such a construction, even a person who has an eyesight disease can discriminate and understand an ordinary document which is not in Braille. Such a kind of apparatus has been disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-46854.
However, since such a kind of conventional apparatus does not have means for storing the read pattern information, it is limited to the application of permitting a user to discriminate and understand a document in real time, in which the read pattern information is merely directly displayed by the tactile display. Therefore, for instance, once a document has been read past a certain location, if it is desired to again refer to a portion which has already been read, reading must be repeated from the beginning of the document. Further, if it is desired to store or record the information which has already been read, the read information must be recorded by using a Braille typewriter or the like. As mentioned above, since in addition to the reading apparatus, the Braille typewriter or the like must be carried, this situation is troublesome. On the other hand, the read information cannot be recorded by such a method at a location, e.g., in a library or the like, where the sound of operation of the apparatus becomes noise. Such a drawback is the first subject for improvement by the present invention.
On the other hand, if all of the read pattern information is sequentially stored into memory means, the amount of data to be stored extremely increases greatly, so that the costs of the apparatus rises. To prevent such a problem, it is necessary to reduce the amount of data to be stored into the memory means and to reduce the cost. This is the second subject addressed by the present invention.